Doctors Say Tick Borne ‘Powassan Virus’ Is Worse Than Lyme Disease

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It’s even worse than Lyme disease. Ticks in our area have been found to carry a rare, potentially life-threatening, virus.

As CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported, doctors have warned that the Powassan virus, a rare, tick borne illness could be serious. It doesn’t have a treatment or a cure.

“The doctor just has to support you during the acute illness and hope that you survive,” Dr. Daniel Cameron explained.

Dr. Cameron is the President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. He said that if bitten by an infected tick you can get the virus within a matter of minutes, and while the symptoms are similar to Lyme disease, they are more severe.

“You can get seizures, high fevers, stiff neck. It comes on so suddenly that it’s the kind of thing people go to the emergency room for,” he explained.